1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a retractable stairs-like stand which includes plural steps of floor-bases which are moved horizontally between an advanced position where the floor-bases are mutually shifted into a form of stairs and a retracted position where the floor-bases are mutually lined up along the vertical direction, and plural seats fitted onto the floor-bases, which can be compactly put together when the stand is not used.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical arrangement of such retractable stairs-like stand is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open 61-113867. In this conventional the stairs-like stand, the seat sections of the respective seats are fixed onto the front end portions of the respective floor-bases, and the lower end portions of the backs of the respective seats are rotatably jointed to the rear end portions of the seat sections, so that the backs can be pushed down onto the seat sections to overlap the seat sections.
However, in the above-mentioned, conventional retractable stairs-like stand, the seat sections of the respective seats and the backs which are pushed down onto the seat sections to overlap the seat sections are received and held inside gaps between the floor-bases lined up along the vertical direction at the retracted position, when the stand is not used. Therefore, the thickness of the seats when received and held becomes large, thereby resulting in the problem that the seats lined up along the vertical direction cannot be held inside the gaps between the floor-bases in the case in which the difference in level between the floor-bases is small, which is usually decided on the basis of the specification of the stand corresponding to the place where the stand is installed.
In the above-mentioned conventional arrangement of the retractable stairs-like stand, the seat sections of the respective seats are fixed onto the respective floor-bases in a form that their sitting faces are upwards, and consequently dusts is liable to remain on the sitting faces. In particular in the case of installing the stand outdoors, there occurs a problem that rainwater may remain on the sitting faces. Furthermore, there remains a problem that the structure of the respective seats is complicated and the cost for making them is high, since the backs of the seats are rotatably jointed to the seat sections.